After several of his co-stars spoke out about “horrific” gifts from Jared Leto, the actor has lashed out in a new interview, saying they can “kiss my a**”.
Jared Leto is now saying he was just joking when he said he sent his Suicide Squad co-stars cringe-worthy gifts – including “anal beads” and “used condoms.”
“99.9 per cent of what people read is bullsh*t,” he told Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday, adding, “there were no used condoms”.
“Any of the very few gifts that were ever given were given with a spirit of fun and adventure and received with laughter, fun, and adventure,” he continued, the New York Post reports.
“I’m playing a guy called the Joker, it’s OK to play some jokes. Nothing ever crossed any lines, and it’s not up to other people on the internet to create those lines.”
Viola Davis, who played government agent Amanda Waller in the superhero movie, was first to talk about Leto’s unusual gifts on set.
After that interview, Leto, 49, himself confirmed on a red carpet with E! News that also gave his castmates “anal beads” and “used condoms”.
“I know it’s a family show, but we can educate people here. At least they were used,” he said before adding that he sent them to “everybody”.
The Thirty Seconds to Mars singer said he “did a lot of things” to “create an element of surprise, spontaneity and to really break down the many walls that may be there”.
“The Joker is somebody who doesn’t really respect things like personal space or boundaries,” he concluded.
And despite now claiming that it was a joke, his co-stars at the time also confirmed the bizarre gifts.
Will Smith, who played Deadshot, then told E! that when he received used condoms, the thought, “Jared has gone full joker.”
“He really set the tone,” the French Prince of Bel Air star added. “He wasn’t playing with it. He was dead serious. As an actor, he was going in and he was 100 per cent going into this character.”
Margot Robbie also confirmed she received the contraceptive, telling E! she received “so many weird things”.
“I can’t even begin to tell you the weird things I got,” the actress, who played Harley Quinn in the film. “By that point, I kind of felt like I knew the joker bit so it wasn’t as alarming.”
Leto told EW on Tuesday that he only ever gave Robbie, 31, “cupcakes” and a “mouse,” and reiterated that he and his co-star were “just having a goof” with the gag gifts.
“I’m an artist at the end of the day,” he said. “If I do something risky and you don’t like it, basically, you can kiss my a**.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Jared Leto addresses claims he gave Suicide Squad co-stars ‘used condoms’
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